God of War III brings the popular franchise to the PS3

The PlayStation 3 has had some nice exclusives in its more than three years on the market including Metal Gear Solid 4 and last year’s Uncharted 2.

But no franchise is more anticipated by PlayStation fans and Sony executives alike than God of War III, which is finally arriving on the PlayStation 3 today.

The action-adventure game completes a long and bloody trilogy that spans God of War and God of War II on the PlayStation 2. Those two titles sold about 9 million units worldwide and a remastered combo pack of the two recently sold almost half a million units.

The hope for Sony is that God of War III champions the PlayStation 3 the way its predecessors moved the PS2.

“This is one of most beloved and most anticipated franchises for the PS3,” said Peter Dille, senior vice president of marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America. “This will be a hardware driver that will continue our momentum out of the holidays.”

After seeing some footage of God of War III at E3 last year, I can attest this is a beautiful and gory game. The battles are epic and the blood spews and flows so vividly, it’s both thrilling and numbing to behold.

Dille said the game will be a treat for fans waiting for the franchise to make the leap to high definition and take advantage of the horsepower of the PS3.

“People will be thrilled it’s worth the wait and it delivers in every way, shape and form,” he said.

God of War III’s impact could be somewhat muted because of shortages of the PlayStation 3. The hardware, which has been hard to find on shelves and has limited Sony’s sales, will likely be in short supply into the near future.

So are you preparing to play God of War III? If you don’t have a PS3 already, is this what will get you to finally buy the console?